It’s 2025… Just Add Programmatic Audio
Mar 11, 2025With Q1 quickly coming to an end, New Year’s resolutions are getting increasingly hard to follow through on, but let us give you an easy one to stick to: In 2025, add programmatic audio to your media mix.
In today’s ever-evolving world of formats and platforms, managing the myriad of channels available to marketers can be difficult. There is a natural tendency to focus on perceived “premium” formats, to over index on the visual at the expense of the impressionable; however, data can help us differentiate between perception and reality.
Make an Impact with Audio
Study after study shows the impact of audio on consumer recall, affinity, and intent. A recent SiriusXM Media report detailed how audio's primetime dominates the average consumer’s day and at the times when consumers are most likely to purchase, subscribe, or take meaningful action. Yet, while consumers spend 31% of their time with audio, only 9% of media dollars go to the channel.
Digital audio grew 17% year over year, reaching $1.8B in 2024. However, only 24% of the digital advertising expenditures were activated programmatically. This year, projections show programmatic audio will continue growing 18% to $2.3B, now claiming 30% of the overall digital audio market. This is still a relatively low rate of investment, and there is massive potential for short term growth.
With its vast logged-in user bases and integrations with alternative IDs, audio remains one of the most addressable channels in the programmatic landscape. Programmatic solutions allow buyers to observe in real-time how incorporating digital audio into their omnichannel campaigns can enhance results.
So why is there a massive gap in time spent and investment? Why are such a low percentage of dollars being transacted programmatically? Despite proven effectiveness, a lingering misconception persists that marketers’ needs can be met through visual media alone, causing them to miss out on significant opportunities in digital audio. Additionally, there is a tendency to silo digital audio outside of omnichannel tactics when DSPs are able to show its effectiveness alongside display, OLV, CTV, social media, and other channels. Altogether, there is a substantial potential for increased efficiency and return in programmatic audio.
Gain Incremental Reach to the Right Audience
A crucial first step is knowing where your potential customers are and when they will most likely absorb your brand’s message. More consumers listen to audio daily than engage with any other media.
Drill down further, and studies show that campaigns can achieve as much as 56% incremental reach depending on medium and demo.
Incremental Reach to Over the Top Media
Particularly among OTT streamers, audio via SiriusXM Media can significantly increase the reach of a campaign.
Finally, consider the mindset of the consumer. People today are working hard to limit their exposure to channels like social media, which 47% of our listeners say has a negative impact on their mental health. At the same time, they nearly eight in 10 say audio has a positive impact on their mental health, meaning your advertisements reach audiences when they’re in a more favorable headspace.
As a multitasking channel (think listening to music while working out or to a podcast while commuting), audio reaches audiences in contexts that no other media can, setting the tone and mood for different activities.
Increase Performance Against Key KPIs
The results prove the case for audio. Starting at the very top of the purchase funnel, we see the positive halo effect of combining CTV and digital audio campaigns across message association and aided recall. Consumers are absorbing what the brand is saying.
Data from The Trade Desk’s recent omnichannel report reinforces the upper funnel power of audio. “In an omnichannel campaign, audio offers higher attention, connection, and immersion, with significantly less cognitive fatigue.”
How does programmatic audio help with lower funnel performance? A new SiriusXM Media study with Viant reveals that a multi-touch attribution model—one that accounts for every consumer interaction across multiple channels—can result in 65% more conversions from audio compared to last-touch models. Tools within most major DSPs, such as The Trade Desk’s Path to Conversion, can marry the data from all channels run in a campaign to show how and when a user influenced by audio converts to a customer.
Programmatic Adtech Delivers Operational Efficiency and Success
The studies we’ve shared are the tip of the programmatic audio iceberg, but you don’t have to take our word for it. With DSP tools and resources, it’s easier than ever to see how digital audio drives increased reach and performance for an individual campaign.
Why spend time sending IOs and assets to each publisher when a buyer can manage the campaign from A to Z in one platform and include all the bells and whistles to manage omnichannel success?
With programmatic audio, a buyer can:
Measure reach and frequency within the platform in real-time and make in-campaign optimizations.
Test various creatives to determine which ones perform better with each of their audiences.
Follow a user through the consumer journey and see the halo effect of digital audio on the funnel.
Discover the impact of adding new audio channels, such as podcasts, which saw 33% growth in programmatic revenue last year.
Make Adding Programmatic Audio the Resolution You Keep
As we continue through 2025, we continue looking toward the future of programmatic audio and the diverse ways to reach consumers.
Here are some predictions for the year ahead:
Commerce media and the audience data opportunities it brings will help marketers solve for signal loss and challenges that come with third-party audience targeting.
Retail media’s use of audio to drive tangible results for shopper marketing teams has exploded in the last two years, and is set to continue growing in 2025.
This will be accelerated exponentially as Amazon starts to turn its eye towards audio inventory.
In-car opportunities will continue to grow. SiriusXM Media already has a strong footprint across $10M+ programmatically accessible users in car where they cannot be reached by any other media formats at scale. As satellite and igital technologies merge, that number will explode.
In-store audio is another area of opportunity to explore. As DOOH grows in the programmatic space, the opportunity to add sound to a consumer’s day while they are shopping can help drive additional impressions in moments that matter.
It’s important not to lose focus on the medium that has proven performance and continues to play a crucial role in key moments of your customers' day-to-day lives.
Ready to get your campaigns in tune with programmatic audio? Let's talk.
